Small Faces

Without a doubt one of the finest gang/youth films ever! I know several guys who grew up in Glasgow in the 1960's and I'll never look at them the same way again, (And, I thought that the gang members in Boyz N' the Hood were tough... They have nothing on Charlie Sloan and the boys: "Glen ya' Bass!"). The only down side to the film is that I had to watch it with the close captioning on, because I their accents were too strong for me to follow. Anyway, a fantastic effort + a must see! Some other IMDb patron said: "I wish I could make the whole world see this movie" - I myself can't put it better than that.

A gritty, realistically drawn out rights of passage film, this was an impressive return to form for writer/director MacKinnon after his brief Hollywood fling. Overall the film, although essentially a nostalgic look at a young Glasgow boy coming of age in 1968, manages to steer clear from over romanticising the past as so often happens with such an exercise. This is largely due to an impressive cast, realistic location filming, and a refreshingly simple (especially in light of recent Brit flicks) down to earth pop soundtrack. Its not too preoccupied with presenting a hip representation of 1960s culture which may have prevailed its realism.

Lex is the youngest of three brothers MacLean being brought up by a single mother in a grubby tenement flat. His brothers are greatly contrasting in character; Alan a sensitive, aspiring artist, and Bobby an illiterate and unpredictable gang member. It is the former that Lex looks up to rather than Bobby who he sees as a "moron". Much of the film's central concerns seem to lie in these two contrasting sides of Lex's up-bringing. He lives in a world where artistic expression, or any such kind of creativity, is stifled. This being graphically represented by the beating of a young artist at the hands of a local gang. We also learn of this character's father's fruitless attempts to produce grapes in the middle of Glasgow. The only escapism and means of capturing anything remotely extrisnic for the likes of Lex and Alan is through their art. Ultimately though it is intelligence which prevails when Malky's ignorant act leads directly to his destruction.

Early scenes serve to establish the family life of the MacLean's. Sometimes these seem rather idealistic, such as family gatherings and sing-songs. The singing seems to be a motif for happier times; it doesn't return until directly after Malky's death in a comical children's sing-a-long at a Saturday matinee. Although family life is not disregarded, never can adults successfully communicate with the youngsters. The attempts by an American uncle to have some influence over the boys is ineffectual, and the mother seems to have little control over them. Also there curiously seems to be no intervention by the police into the gang violence.

As Lex is the central protagonist we are often given his perspective of events. An earlier gang encounter at a fairground is received from his point of view, which is then followed by a man leading an elephant across a field. Such surreal imagery is almost a childlike representation of events. Shaky camera movements during his drunken stupor are further indication of the camera allowing us to identify ourselves with him.

On the whole the film is well-crafted. Some striking images such as the track of red blood across the ice rink after Bobby's is stabbed and great attention to detail are a credit to the director. As well as some clever aesthetic touches the film boasts to its credit some endearing performances by what is mainly a young cast, especially young Ian Robertson as Lex whom our affection for is essential to our enjoyment of the film. Despite the film's violent content we rarely lose sight of humour or hope.

The gifted Scottish director Gillies MacKinnon made this wonderfully fresh film about growing up in Glasgow in the late sixties and which he co-wrote with his brother Billy. It has the same feel for time and place and what it's like to be a teenager in a slightly idealized, hyper-realist past but it's an altogether more kinetic work full of great visual flourishes.

It centres on the three Maclean brothers, the deeply troubled, almost psychopathic Bobby who is a member of one of two rival gangs, (J S Duffy), Adam who is a talented artist hoping to go to Art School, (Joe McFadden) and the youngest Lex, who like Adam also has a talent for art but who also fosters some of Bobby's rebellious spirit (Iain Robertson). When Lex accidentally shoots a member of the rival gang in the eye, the boys find themselves caught up, in an almost surrealist fashion, in the conflict which turns very nasty indeed. MacKinnon may be dealing with such conventional issues as gang warfare but he treats the material in ways movies haven't done before. Adults, such as the boy's mother, (beautifully played by Clare Higgins), remain very much on the fringe.

This is a violent, darkly funny but mostly tragic film and the performances from the mostly young cast are extraordinary, in particular from J S Duffy and Iain Robertson and from Garry Sweeney as the vicious leader of Bobby's gang. The film wasn't widely circulated or seen and consequently was not a commercial success yet it remains one of the key British films of the past 10 years.

I caught this film late night on the Sundance channel. It is extraordinarily well done. It's good to see more and more cinema from the UK showing on cable here in the US.

Small Faces doesn't insult your intelligence, and it doesn't have any affectations. Its setting in the 60s is almost incidental; as someone else mentioned, there's no attempt here to glorify or overstate the setting for stylistic reasons.

And I must say, some of the camera-work is beautiful. One shot in particular stands out; Lex stands in a large vacant lot, puddles reflecting the sky, near the Tongs' apartment building. Something in this shot is alternately so deliberately composed for its "ugly beauty" and at the same time completely unpretentious and real and necessary. The kid who plays the lead, Iain Robertson, does an incredible job and seems almost an inorganic part of the urban wreckage around him.

No clichés. No insult to your intelligence. Just a story, well told, superbly acted, and superbly shot. This film is a textbook on how to make a good drama. Just one of many superb films from the UK (another recent good one was The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner) that we've been deprived of over here until now.

First rate.

Life in the tough end of Glasgow in the late 1960s is delightfully and sometimes painfully presented here. This is clearly a work of well-observed autobiography by the Mackinnon family - Billy the writer/producer and Gillies the director.

At the centre of the film is the Maclean family - widowed mother with sons Bobby (none too bright), Alan (budding artist in spite of being brought up in the tough end of Govan) and narrator Lex, only 13 and still not sure what life is all about. Iain Robertson's performance as Lex is so good that it is barely credible that he has not reappeared in anything more worthy of his acting talent.

The film sets up a series of oppositions - gangs (Glens versus Tongs); romantic family life vs tough and unromantic street life; loyalty vs betrayal. Far from resulting in simplification, this actually makes the life of young Lex even more complex as he is, sequentially, drawn to each aspect of these opposing ideas.

Director Gillies shows he knows how to film his environment and gives us telling and memorable images - such as a huge close-up of blood running down a plug-hole that looks like some work of abstract art.

Nowhere near as clichéd as most coming-of-age movies, this is a joy for teenagers and adults alike.